Microspace. Universe. Lore.

Month: November 2016

The success of the Gurdergen species as traders is predicated on a number of factors; the design of their ships is certainly a significant contributor. Unlike its smaller cousin, the Medium Transport has both internal and external storage. The latter comes in the form of container racks able to pick up, carry and drop off significant weights and loads.

As with other Gurdergen vessels, the Medium Transport is unarmed, slow and vulnerable to attack. Ship captains generally keep to safe, well patrolled trade routes on which they do not need to rent an escort. Savvy captains are aware that the efficient external cargo racks make their ships even more tempting pirate targets; would-be raiders do not even need to board the ship to steal cargo thus can do so quickly with no risk to boarding parties.

The Gurdergen are often contracted to provide ad hoc logistical support to the USEF; when military ships working in deep cover in alien territory need resupply it is often safer and less conspicuous to use a Gurdergen ship than a military freighter. The Medium Transport is large enough to transport fuel, ammunition and spare parts through these ships are sought after by pirates eager to get their hands on military grade equipment.

The V29 is a ship of the new Asian Coalition Navy, though there are several stolen or pirated models in private hands. They are one of the smaller Corvette-class vessels; they are able to mix capital-ship grade armaments with agility unmatched by similar ships of a similar tonnage.

Four forward-facing warhead launchers give the ship its bite; V29 captains thrive on hit and run attacks on larger, slower ships to which they can do significant damage whilst evading return fire.

Even still, the ship is vulnerable to fightercraft and is dependent on ammunition supplies; without supplies the ship is much less of a threat. Pairs and triplets of V29s have been deployed against unescorted Wun’Tux capital ships to great effect; only the presence of Twinfangs balance the odds in the lizard’s favour.

The V29’s ability to punch above its weight means it is a popular ship for pirates and other criminals and rebels of the Outer Rim. Large-yield warheads are often enough of a threat to make unescorted merchant captains give up without a fight. The quality of warhead equipped by pirate V29 captains is intensely variable, however; some are more improvised missiles than military-grade hardware. The combination of agility and warhead capacity makes it an excellent choice against small-to-medium Wun’Tux warships – it is nimble enough to evade their heavy weapons and has the correct weaponry to break through durillium armour plate. The ship is wasted in a defensive role, however, and easily negated if it is made to guard stationary targets. The majority of Asian Coalition admirals prefer the Ankur’s versatility in comparison.

There are several popular and illegal modifications to the ship when used by pirate forces, ranging from a troop carrier to a close-quarters bruiser. Performance of these modified ships varies dramatically.